| Everything You Need to Know About DVD/CD ROM Drivers |
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Most computers come standard with CD-ROM and/or DVD-ROM drives. These drives can either be read-only drives or they can read and write data. DVD drives can accommodate both DVDs as well as CDs while CD drives can only handle Compact Discs.
No matter which type of CD or DVD drive your computer has installed, in order for it to run properly it must have device drivers. Device drivers allow your computer’s operating system to recognize and control the drive. In addition, these devices generally need some sort of software such as a media player for listening to music, a DVD player for watching movies, or disc-burning software for burning data to the disc.
If your CD or DVD drive suddenly fails, replacing or updating the device drivers may be in order. Why would a drive suddenly fail? Sometimes, new hardware or software installations replace driver files with versions of their own. When this happens, hardware that needed the older driver file may not work properly. This can also happen when uninstalling software and related “shared” DLL files. While the uninstall wizard may think the files are no longer needed by other systems, they could very well be needed. If you’ve recently made changes to your computer such as adding new hardware or software or removing old software, this could be part of the problem.
Before replacing the device drivers, find out exactly what type of device you have by opening the System Information utility. You can do this in Windows 98 or XP by going to Start, Programs, Accessories, System Information. In Windows Vista, simply type “System Information” into the Start button’s Search box and click on the program that pops up.
Once inside the System Information utility, click on Components and click CD-ROM. In the right pane, detailed information appears including name, manufacturer, and device driver.
Once you know the manufacturer of the drive, you can navigate to the manufacturer’s website and download new device drivers.
CD and DVD-ROM drivers that you download may or may not be executable files. If they are executable, all you need to do is click them and follow the prompts. If not, you will need to install them using the Device Manager. To access Device Manager, go into the Control Panel, click System, and click Device Manager. Click the plus sign next to “DVD/CD Drives” to see a list of all installed devices of this type.
Double click the device and then click on the Driver tab.
Choose Update Driver. From here, select Browse My Computer and then navigate to the location where you stored the downloaded device drivers. Alternatively, you can also use Device Manager to search for updated drivers. In fact, this isn’t a bad idea to do this from time to time to keep your CD or DVD-ROM device updated with the latest patches and updates.
Once the drivers have been installed or updated, you will need to reboot your computer before the changes take place.
Top pick for the best Driver Update Software:
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